Cost of owning/feeding an Eclectus

[medspec71]

I am considering adopting a female 6 year old Eclectus. This forum has been so helpful in my research! After reading about the special dietary needs of this breed of parrot, how much would you estimate the monthly or weekly cost of owning one would be? I live in SC. Thank you in advance!

 

[CaptRodney]

I had a eclectus 2 times in my life and they are not very expensive to have. I spent a lot of money on mine but lots were not necessary

 

[Cowtown]

I have a 7 month old female..the main expense is the cage. I feed Abby fruits and veggies from the store.. organic is you can find them and only from the USA.

I do also feed her Zupreem pellets... avg price $12-$14 a bag. It does last a while, I just feed about 1/8 cup when I put her to bed.

 

[Aussie Ben]

After the toys and cage, the most expensive foods seem to be pellets and nuts. My ekkie doesn't like pellets much so it’s not too bad. He loves nuts though and they can be fairly expensive depending on what you are buying.

I offer a around 4-5 different fresh fuits/veg and a frozen veg mix everyday (4$ for a bag that lasts nearly two weeks). I sometimes offer brown rice as well, which lasts for yonks in the pantry.

You will need to be prepared to spend some money but its not really that bad. For example, obviously you won't need to give her say a whole apple each day, you can cut it up and keep it in the fridge, so you have 3-4 days supply of apple for the cost of 1 . If I had to give you a rough estimate of how much I buy for the birds, I would say 1 piece/punnet/bunch of each fruit/veg a week. So maybe….around $10 a week just on fruit veg and then the occasional $20 on nuts and pellets. (in AUD$)

Having said this, the biggest expense by far is the vet bills. It’s not too bad if birdie stays healthy, you only need to pay for checkups. But if she gets ill, you could be looking into triple figures for treatment and meds.

 

[medspec71]

I appreciate your responses! I almost feel like I'm adopting a child and want to make sure I know what I'm getting into in every way before I do! This forum is a great place to ask and learn! Thanks again for all the help!

 

[Pedro]

I have to say my Eclectus don't cost much at all to feed. I buy lots of fruits & Veggies for my family so everyone eats healthy including my parrots. I keep my birds healthy & haven't had Vet bills in years. That also goes for my dogs as well.

I agree the biggest expence is the cage setup.

 

[Chris Winkler]

I have only had Tobi for a few months but thus far the cage set up was the costly thing. I buy fresh fruit & veggies about once a week and spend maybe 10 bucks.

From what my breeder told me the Zupreem pellets do not have the nutrition they need in them and within 2 yrs Tobi would be malnourished.

I guess it really depends on what % of the diet is pellets though. Either way I give him Pretty Bird Eclectus formula pellets. The main problem with them though is most stores don't sell them so I either buy on line or get them when I am down in Youngstown Ohio. There is an awesome bird only store there..

I really don't think I spend anything more to feed Tobi then I do my other 2 FIDS..

Let us know when she comes home! Very exciting when we get a new baby!

 

[Cowtown]

I appreciate your responses! I almost feel like I'm adopting a child and want to make sure I know what I'm getting into in every way before I do! This forum is a great place to ask and learn! Thanks again for all the help!

You are adopting a a child a FID (feathered children) They will take as much if not more attention and love than a real child. Remember a Parrot come from a flock.. they are use to have several other Eckies around them.
You can not just put her in a cage throw some food in and say hi and bye.

The more attention you give them the more that they want to be with you.

Eckies are not dumb they do not show a lot of emotion so some people say they are boring and dumb... they just don't react like other parrots

they study the situations before reacting... Abby is so sweet.. the older she gets the more animated she is in playing with her toys and when I talk to her she just looks at me and cocks her head to what and listen to what AI am saying... they are beautiful birds and very intelligent.

Keep us informed and post some pics if you can.